The scheme opens for subscription tomorrow and closes on 8th August. The investment objective is to generate returns that corresponds closely to the returns generated by IDBI Gold Exchange Traded Fund (IDBI Gold ETF) that was launched last October.

Under the scheme, investors would not hold gold physically and the AMC would keep the equivalent amount of imported gold in its vault with Bank of Nova Scotia.

"Gold is a great investment asset. We see investment in gold as a component of prudent diversification to hedge against uncertainties, inflation and for long-term benefits," IDBI AMC managing director and chief executive Debasish Mallick told reporters.

On the amount the AMC expects to garner from the new scheme, Mallick said, "we are expecting at east Rs100 crore during the NFO period."

The fund house further said that investment in gold provides better inflation-adjusted returns.

"In the last 10 years, gold has beaten the headline inflation 8 out of 10 times. It has outperformed and given positive inflation adjusted returns," he said.

The product will be available across most of IDBI Bank's branches, Federal Bank, Indian Overseas Bank and Corporation Bank, he added.

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There is absolute consensus that prices of diesel, LPG and even kerosene have to be raised, but when and how is uncertain says a top official

New Delhi: Close on the heels of 70 paise per litre hike in petrol prices, the Oil Ministry is pushing for an increase in diesel and domestic cooking gas LPG prices, even though it is unsure of political support for the unpopular move with the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, reports PTI.

"The most important reform is not allowing FDI in retail, but cutting subsidies on diesel, LPG and kerosene," a top Oil Ministry official said in the capital.

"There is absolute consensus that prices of diesel, LPG and even kerosene have to be raised. But when and how is uncertain," the official said.

He said Vice President's election is on 7th August and "they say you cannot raise rates before that. Soon after that is the Monsoon session of Parliament and though nothing stops us from raising prices when Parliament is in session but we do not have numbers."

Diesel, LPG and kerosene prices have not been raised since 25th June last year even though cost of raw material (crude oil) has spiralled and rupee depreciated against US dollar making imports even more costly.

State-owned oil firms currently sell the fuel at a loss of Rs11.26 a litre while they lose Rs319 on sale of every 14.2-kg LPG cylinder for domestic consumption. Besides, they are losing Rs28.56 per litre on kerosene.

Without a price hike, a staggering Rs1.6 lakh crore of losses on these fuel sales would have to be met by the government this fiscal.

A ministerial panel which is authorised to decide on pricing of the three fuels has not been reconstituted after its previous head Pranab Mukherjee resigned as Finance Minister to get elected as the President of India.

In absence of the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM), the ministry is contemplating sending a price hike proposal.

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The Sharad Pawar led party also indicated that any pull out in Delhi could have a cascading effect on the coalition in Maharashtra

New Delhi: Upping the ante, sulking Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Tuesday warned the Congress that if its demands like coordination committee for United Progressive Alliance (UPA) coalition and better treatment of allies were not resolved by tomorrow it would pull out from the government, reports PTI.

The party led by Sharad Pawar has also indicated that any pull out in Delhi could have a cascading effect on the coalition in Maharashtra as the state leaders favour exiting the Congress-led ministry. The NCP has been in coalition with the Congress in Maharashtra government for the last 13 years.

An NCP leader, who declined to be identified, said that non-Congress constituents in the UPA have been sympathetic to the demands raised by it and the party was also in touch with the supporting parties of the UPA coalition.

He also said that Congress has held no backchannel talks so far with it on the issues raised by Pawar in his letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi.

"We are a responsible party and it would not behove the stature of a leader like Pawar to be absent at two successive Cabinet meetings," he said, suggesting that Pawar would rather like to end the suspense on his resignation.

"Therefore our deadline ends tomorrow", he said ahead of Thursday's meeting of the Cabinet.

Pawar and his party colleague Praful Patel had kept away from the Cabinet meeting last week expressing their desire to quit for building their party.

Patel has strongly refuted speculation that the NCP was putting on Congress with an eye for No 2 slot for Pawar in the Cabinet.

"The issues raised by the NCP were for better coordination and all the other UPA constituents were "sympathetic", the leader claimed.